Jazz Articles about Reuben Wilson

Blue Note 50th Anniversaries for March

by Marc Cohn
March 7, 2019

We're off to Van Gelder's for Blue Note sessions from March 1969, including tracks originally from the Elvin Jones LP The Prime Element with Lee Morgan, George Coleman, and Joe Farrell. And there's Blue Note #7 from 1939, as well as 21st century music that grabbed my ears. Enjoy the show. Next week: listener favorites and we celebrate DrJ's birthday (BTW, he's '40') with some tunes that always show up on his car stereo system. R.I.P. Ira Gitler (18 Dec ...

Reuben Wilson: Blue Mode – 1969

by Marc Davis
March 21, 2016

1969 was the grooviest year in a very groovy decade. The Beatles, on the verge of a breakup, urged everyone to get back and come together. The Temptations couldn't get next to you. And Sly Stone took everyone higher at Woodstock. At that very moment, in the waning days of 1969, Reuben Wilson funked us up with a classic acid-jazz album called Blue Mode. If you remember 1969, you already know what Blue Mode sounds like, ...

Reuben Wilson: Revisited

by David A. Orthmann
December 4, 2011

Reuben Wilson Trio Revisited American Showplace Music 2011 For any organist mining the soul-jazz vein, it's tough to escape the long shadow of Hammond B-3 titans such as Jimmy Smith, Charles Earland, Richard “Groove" Holmes and Jimmy McGriff. On the other hand, invoking the memory of a few of the masters doesn't hurt an artist in reaching fans who crave sounds that stop short of Larry Young's mid 1960s, saxophonist John Coltrane-influenced innovations and ...

Mastering the Groove: A Chat With Organist Reuben Wilson

by C. Andrew Hovan
October 6, 2003

In hindsight, it is possible to get too much of a good thing. Back in the '50s and '60s when a plethora of jazz recordings hit the jazz market like never before in the music's relatively short history, it was easy to take it all for granted. This was especially true of the organ combo records that ushered in the soul jazz movement of the late '60s. And with a critical backlash against the B3 organ as a viable jazz ...

Reuben Wilson: Organ Blues

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2002

Reuben Wilson’s blues band settles in nice and cozy. It’s a celebration! Nods to Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff fit appropriately into a session of traditional good time blues. Melvin Butler lends a soulful persona that stands patiently in the shadow of the late Eddie Harris. Grant Green, Jr. and leader Reuben Wilson recall the great organ-guitar combinations jazz has espoused. Bernard Purdie drives the band with seasoned veteran chops.

Wilson’s career began 40 years ago in Los Angeles, playing ...

Reuben Wilson: Organ Blues

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2002

Reuben Wilson’s blues band settles in nice and cozy. It’s a celebration! Nods to Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff fit appropriately into a session of traditional good time blues. Melvin Butler lends a soulful persona that stands patiently in the shadow of the late Eddie Harris. Grant Green, Jr. and leader Reuben Wilson recall the great organ-guitar combinations jazz has espoused. Bernard Purdie drives the band with seasoned veteran chops.

Wilson’s career began 40 years ago in Los Angeles, playing ...

Reuben Wilson: Organ Donor

by Douglas Payne
May 1, 1998

Reuben Wilson (born 1935) is best remembered as one of Blue Note's funkiest organists, making five albums for the label between 1968 and 1971 (only Love Bug and the excellent Blue Mode are currently available on CD). He went on to record three more records for Groove Merchant, then he whipped up some disco for smaller labels and by the end of the seventies, he was gigging with the Fatback Band. Wilson disappeared from the scene until groups like Us3, ...